Herricks teacher arrested for allegedly giving teen unauthorized vaccination in Sea Cliff home

Brandon Duffy
Nassau County Police arrested Herricks High School teacher Laura Russo for allegedly giving a 17-year-old male a COVID-19 vaccination shot at he Sea Cliff home. (Photo courtesy of Herricks Public Schools)

Herricks High School teacher Laura Parker Russo was arrested on New Year’s Eve for allegedly injecting a 17-year-old male with a COVID-19 vaccine without being a licensed professional.

Nassau County detectives said they were alerted by the teenager’s mother after he returned home from Russo’s Sea Cliff residence. The youth had allegedly gone to her home and was administered an injection by Russo, to which the mother had not consented.

After an investigation, it was determined that Russo was neither a medical professional nor authorized to administer vaccines, and she was arrested at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, according to police.

In a statement, Herricks Superintendent Fino Celano said, “The individual in question is a district employee who has been removed from the classroom and reassigned pending the outcome of the investigation. The alleged incident is non-school related. As this is a matter of personnel, the district has no further comment.”

Police did not say how Russo came into possession of the vaccine. 

In a video obtained by NBC 4 New York, Russo is seen allegedly injecting a male with a COVID-19 vaccine. The male’s identity was covered in the video.

According to the district’s website, Russo taught biology at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park. Her page was removed from the high school’s teacher directory following the arrest.

Russo was charged with the unauthorized practice of a profession, a class E felony. She was released and is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Hempstead on Jan. 21.

Efforts to reach Russo were unavailing.

 

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